Fun-Filled Saturday

Yesterday we really packed our day full of fun. We started out with me teaching a Zumba class at our church building. There were a number of ladies from the expat community who turned up. Good times. Then we headed over to National Park for the Children's Mashramani parade. Next we drove down to Marudi Creek. Finally, we ate dinner at the Princess Hotel on the way home. Who says there's nothing to do in Guyana?! :)

The culmination of the parade was in the stadium at National Park. We got there at the perfect time.

Some sponsors were handing out some tasty (and completely artificial) Caribbean snacks. Jasmine rather enjoyed the spicy Chili Balls. Who would have thought?

 Guyana Pride!

 She also enjoys plantain chips.

The children in the parade were all costumed up, so Rose thought it appropriate to bring a mask she made.

 "Cattan condy" time! A very rare treat. Rose thought she had died and gone to heaven.

 All those tiny kids in costumes were so cute.

 We really lived it up!

 She didn't want to take that thing off at bedtime.

After the parade we headed straight to Marudi Creek. It's a tucked-away little swimming hole on the road to Lethem that's only open on the weekend. They don't have a website or anything; I just heard about it through word-of-mouth so I didn't really know what to expect. We also only had general directions on how to get there, but it wasn't that hard. I mean, Guyana doesn't exactly have a confusing highway system.

 On the way we passed Craig. Had to show that to my dad. :)

 Jasmine was the least shy of the kids about getting into the water.

 Just cracking a coconut on a log and drinking it. No big deal.

 Wooden water slide. Haha. Watch out for splinters!

The only other people there were some German expats, one of whom I had already met in Georgetown. She is super duper nice, and her daughter and her friend got along very well with our kids. Actually, the friend (a Japanese-Canadian expat) is the older sister of a boy in Simon's class. Such a good kid.

There was a sandy path behind the creek that led to an Amerindian Village. The kids were excited to go exploring.

Very quiet. Very primitive.

Can you imagine living in such a place? I'm glad the kids got a small glimpse of a life very different from their own.

On the way home we were hungry because I only packed snacks for the creek, so we dined at the Princess Hotel. I'd venture to say it's Guyana's largest hotel. I believe it also houses Guyana's only movie theater. Needless to say, the kids were pretty amazed while walking through the arcade (as you might be able to tell from Rose's face).

 Ahhh…this is the life.

Yessss.